From Blunder to Wonder

Saturday I bought a new shirt for Easter. I wish the story was that simple and direct but, as is usual for me, it was not that simple. The day started well and ended well but in between the beginning and the ending there sure were lots of oh-well's.

The morning began with a fine breakfast made by my wife. I like to give her a plug when I can and the fact that I make points with her for it does not hurt. All I had remaining to do that day was to attend a wedding. I was scheduled to preach the next morning, Easter morning, at a church in Dallas and I was actually already set on what I wanted to say. Whether or not it sounded that way the next morning to the congregants of First Missionary Baptist Church in Cockrell Hill is another matter. In my mind, I was ready.

Since I had such a lightly loaded day AND since I would be preaching Easter Sunday morning, I had the bright idea to buy a new shirt. Not just any old shirt. I needed (the word "wanted" is more appropriate here but to garner your sympathy I will stay with the needs based approach) a gonna-preach-on-Easter-Sunday-morning shirt. My journey began three hours before time for the wedding. Surely, anyone can drive 50 miles and buy a shirt and return in such a time frame. Well, I am not anyone and neither am I Shirley. I returned home at 9 P.M. and I missed the wedding.

My first stop was the Longview Mall. I arrived when I expected to arrive. I had two stores in which to shop, JC Penney and Dillards. After 45 minutes of fretting in Dillards, I hurried to Penney's where I found nothing. It took me 15 minutes to realize that though. My hour of shopping was up and I had nothing to show for it. So, I went back to Dillards. I must not go, and empty handed. After 20 more minutes I decided to leave Longview with no new shirt.

Driving toward Gilmer I knew I had stayed too long in the mall which meant that I would miss the wedding. I called the preacher and left him a message. Minutes later I was speaking to the sister of the prospective groom and making heart-felt apologies. I called my wife and informed her of my fruitless trip and that attending the wedding was lost. She was dutifully sympathetic and I knew she would console me once I got home. Then I had another stroke of genius. Let's go to Tyler. There is another mall there!

So, I called Amy back and informed her of my bright idea. She agreed that since I was already out and had missed the wedding that it made sense to continue my search for the "needed" shirt. Bless her heart, she is a good wife.

I must pause here and explain why finding a new shirt is such an ordeal for me. I am picky. And I am not exactly svelte. Reference my pictures to the right of this blog and you will understand. I needed a cool new long-sleeved shirt that was neither blue nor white and sized in extra-gargantuan. They don't grow on trees. Being the day before Easter made such a shirt even harder to find. This was the toughest Easter egg hunt I had ever been on.

Once at the mall in Tyler, I again tried Dillards and JC Penney. I actually found a couple shirts at each store. In fact, I had two shirts in my lap in JC Penney and was rolling toward a checkout when I suddenly became disgusted with both my choices. One was an orange checked pattern that the more I looked at it the more it made me think of a rodeo clown. Rodeo clowns are fine fellows. I know a few. I am not disparaging rodeo clowns or their attire but that shirt just was not what I wanted. Both shirts would have been okay for attending church. They would have been fine if I was singing on a Sunday evening. But neither shirt would do for preaching Easter Sunday morning.

After much inner debate and consternation, I left yet another mall empty handed and dejected. I had one more possibility. There is a big & tall store near the Tyler mall so I drove over there with little hope of finding my Easter egg, uh, I mean, shirt.

I had not been in the Casual Male for more than 3 minutes when I spotted it. It was not blue neither was it white. It came in extra-gargantuan. And best of all it was a bright Eastery kind of color, PEACH. I found my new gonna-preach-on-Easter-Sunday-morning shirt. I was near tears as I made my purchase. Not really, but I sure was relieved. I had persevered and finally found what I was bound and determined to get.

When I returned to my van to come home I noticed the front tires and the near complete lack of tread on them. We had a two hour drive the next morning and the forecast was for storms. Well, those front tires would not do. As I left Tyler, I called a buddy who works in the tire department at our local Wal-Mart. I asked if he had two tires like the ones he installed a few months ago on my rear wheels. He checked and sure enough he found two. I told him I was just over an hour away. It was 7 P.M.

Don told me his boss had okay'd the installation and that he and a co-worker would wait on me. What I had not realized was that the tire center closed at 7. I thought they were open until 9. They waited on me for an hour so they could get me the one new thing I really did need that day, tires. Had I not parked the way I did in Tyler I would not have noticed how bad the front tires were. Had Don and his boss not been willing to wait for me to drive back to Mount Pleasant, we would have had to weather the winds and rain on slick tires. Had God not been in control of it all and had He not watched over me and my family there is no knowing what might have happened on the road to Dallas. But He is in control and He does watch over His kids even when their minds are on frivolous things.

While Don and his co-worker waited for me, a couple from Arkansas came into the shop. They were pulling a trailer and trying to get back home when one of their tires threw off its tread. They were in immediate dire need. Those two guys put on a new tire for them. God took care of them, too. He saved them a possible overnight hotel stay or a possible wreck. He used Don and his co-worker to bless more than just me Saturday night.

I do goofy things and I suppose we all do from time to time. It sure is good to know that God watches over all His kids and gives us what we need when we need it even when we have no clue what we were really in need of. He is able to take all my blunders and make them into wonders that accomplish His purposes and give Him glory.

"Thank you, Father, for your abundant grace extended to me even when I have my eyes on the wrong prize."

Because He lives,

Robby